Surgical specimen margin orientation marking for endoscopic, robotic, laparoscopic, or other surgery types where body tissue is removed, is critical for pathological diagnosis, tumor excision and other margin marking. One example of surgical specimen margin orientation marking may be featured in an endoscopic excision of a tumor. In such an example, the tumor is removed and forwarded to a pathologist for evaluation by frozen or permanent section. The pathologist subsequently performs an analysis to identify malignancy at one or more margins. A surgeon may then direct additional tissue to be excised, the orientation of which is critical for proper and accurate excision.
The current technique for surgical specimen margin orientation marking involves ink marking after a specimen has been removed from a body. FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a conventional marking technique in which a specimen mass is marked with a dotted line to differentiate from surrounding tissues identifies an excised mass. In such a technique an ink mark may be placed at “12:00 o'clock” position on the mass.
However, this approach is inaccurate and subject to error if the orientation of the specimen is changed (e.g., dropped, manipulated, etc.). For example, it may be difficult to find the ink marks and compare to those on the removed mass. Further, the surgeon, staff, or pathologist examining the mass may mistakenly manipulate the removed mass, or there may be miscommunication between surgeons and pathologists related to orientation. An alternative approach that may be implemented includes placement of a reference suture in the specimen at the 12:00 O'clock position. However, this approach is equally subject to error.
Accordingly, an improved surgical specimen margin orientation marking mechanism is desired.